Winter took heavy toll on hospital finances

March 27, 2014

By

Joe Spaulding

Snow, ice, slush, cold temperatures and just plain ‘ole miserable winter weather was listed as a main factor in Adams Memorial Hospital showing a year-to-date deficit of $201,193 in a report given to members of the hospital board of trustees Wednesday night.
Both Chief Executive Officer JoEllen Eidam and Chief Financial Officer Dane Wheeler emphasized harsh conditions hurt the hospital in ways they had no control over as revenue was short of budget by $733,000 — the largest portion of that shortage coming in out-patient services.
“It was a perfect storm setting that hit us. On the days it was snowing and cold, it was almost like a ghost town here at the hospital. There were travel advisories out on some days, so unless a patient was really sick, they didn’t come,” Wheeler said. Eidam said non-budgeted expenses for bills the hospital unexpectedly incurred in January, when the city water system went down, also came due last month, adding to the facility’s woes.
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